How Long Does It Take To Buy a House?

Buying a house is an exciting time, whether you are a first-time home buyer or a seasoned buyer. On average, you should expect to leave a few months to search for a house, put in an offer and close on the house. The best amount of time to conduct this in is usually around two or three months. You want to give yourself enough time and not rush into a house you may not like.

One of the things that factors into home buying is the current economy. In the past, first-time home buyers received an $8,000 tax credit. On the other hand, interest rates have skyrocketed in the past as well. You need to be aware of these things going into buying a house. Learn more about the economy so you can be prepared with this course. In it, you will learn how the economy works and at the end, have a better understanding of our economy.

Meet with a Realtor

You should meet with a realtor so they can help you find the house you want. A realtor will help explain the home-buying process to you in a way that breaks everything down and is easy to understand. If you think you need more resources than a realtor to understand what goes into buying a house, we offer a course that gives you tips on buying a home.

Start Looking

You should put aside at least one month to look for a house. You will be spending most of your evenings and weekends with your realtor, looking for a house that fits your personality. Be sure to make time for this or the house-buying process will take longer than you would like. You will be looking at a lot of houses, so make sure you have a checklist of what you want in your new house so you can weed through the options you don’t want and get to the options that you want. If you get overwhelmed during this process or are not sure of certain real estate terms and practices, you can learn more about real estate with this course. In it, you will learn how to determine the market value of a home so you get what you pay for, understand the purpose of an appraisal and better understand the process in general.

Put in an Offer

After you have found the home that fits you, the next step is to put in an offer on the home. Your realtor can help you craft the perfect offer and help negotiate the closing costs. This can be a very nerve wracking time because there might be other people bidding on the same house. The key is to not get your hopes up too much, because there could be a chance where someone will outbid you. If that happens, keep a positive attitude and move on to other options that could actually be a better fit for you anyway. Because you may be outbid, plan on two or three weeks as a cushion just to be safe.

Closing

Once your offer has been accepted by the seller, you will need to make an appointment to close on the house. The hard part is over. Plan on putting aside a week of your time so you can match your dates up with the seller’s to meet and close on the house. Once you close, you get the keys and the house is yours.

Moving

Did we say the hard part is over? It’s actually almost over. You still have to move in. Plan a week or two to completely move into your house. You may have to schedule a moving van and take a number of trips, which can take up time.

Budgeting

Of course, you will need to budget for your new home. There is a lot that goes into buying a house in addition to the house’s cost. You need to consider closing fees, as well as common household items like a ladder, lawnmower, washer and drier and even more. Make sure you are aware of these costs leading up to buying a home.